Typical surface mounted connectors include a plurality of terminals and solder masses associated with each terminal. Each solder mass is typically in the shape of a ball and during assembly of the connector, the each solder mass is attached to a respective terminal using a reflow process. Upon assembly of the connector to a printed circuit board a second reflow process is typically used to fuse the terminals to contact pads on the circuit board by way of the solder mass.
It is important that the solder mass be securely attached to the terminal. This is so because the connectors using such solder terminals are generally shipped from one location to another location prior to the electrical connectors being installed on a circuit substrate, such as a printed circuit board. Thus, it is necessary to have sufficient retention of the solder mass to the terminal to ensure that the solder mass is not disengaged from the terminal during transportation. One known method of retaining the solder mass to a terminal is by fusing the solder mass to the terminal through the use of a reflow type process.